So yeah the bird was me. But back in the day there was linux with a bunch of config files and windows with the registry.

It could be a pain to deal with config files but it was nowhere near as bad a dealing with the gigantic mess that was the windows registry. So someone trying to move linux away from one of the things that made it better then windows to a windows like system seemed like a horrible idea.

Combine that with the main systemd guy coming off as a bit of a jerk online and the resistance is understandable.